Rebel tobacco bar shut down, amid cheers and drinks

He resisted for eight hours in his bar, surrounded by his smoking customers, before he finally gave in. "The police are going to close the business. I'll not close it, it will require the courts. It does not end here," said José Eugenio Arias-Camisón, the owner of the Asador Guadalmina, a restaurant in Marbella (Málaga), when the Andalusian health department ordered the closure of the premises for noncompliance with Spain's one-month-old smoking ban.

"I have decided not to resist because of my wife and my children," he told reporters who were stationed at the doors of the premises from noon on Thursday. Shortly before a live interview with the television channel Intereconomía, with his 16 employees in the background, the premises were sealed by police associated with the board.

He posed for photographs, closure order in hand, amidst applause from the restaurant's patrons

The Asador Guadalmina was the first restaurant to be declared to be at odds with the smoking ban and has also become the first closed for violating the law. The Andalusian health department ordered the closure of the establishment after its owner publicly stated that he planned not to pay the fine of 145,000 euros imposed by the board for not abiding by the law.

The decision to temporarily close the venue was announced yesterday morning by the regional health chief María Jesús Montero, and the grill was notified that afternoon. The owner, however, refused to comply until nine at night. The day saw the coming and going of inspectors and police officers trying to convince Arias-Camisón to close his business.

Two inspectors arrived at five in the evening, posting the closure order and instructing the wait staff to stop serving customers. The owner's father, Eugenio Arias-Camisón, received the notice and signed it as "non-compliant." Taking this gesture further, he invited the customers to a drink and posed for photographs, closure order in hand, amidst applause from the restaurant's patrons.

At 6pm, the owner arrived from Madrid, where he was collecting signatures for a petition against the law. Shortly thereafter, the health inspectors returned, this time accompanied by law enforcers, but the owner refused to comply. After discussions with representatives of the health department, he asked the police to either leave or bring a court order. Arias-Camisón stayed in the restaurant smoking a cigar.

At nearly nine in the evening, the negotiations between law enforcers and the restaurant owner came to an end, and the grill stopped serving customers. The closure ordered by the board is temporary, and will continue during the judicial proceedings, which carry a maximum duration of two months. If during this time the owner changes his decision to defy the smoking ban law, the closure order will be lifted. If, however, the two months pass and the grill does not comply with the rule or pay the fine, the board will take him to court and the judge review the case to decide whether the facility can reopen. "The law may be debatable, but compliance, no," the Andalusian health chief stated.